


Uneasy Lies The Crown

by Volantredx



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark Padmé Amidala, F/M, Padmé Amidala Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 21:06:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19303843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Volantredx/pseuds/Volantredx
Summary: Padme knows that some times the Greater Good takes great sacrifice.





	Uneasy Lies The Crown

  
"Anakin is the father, isn't he?" Obi-Wan asked, his voice laced with sorrow. When Padme didn't respond he sighed softly. "I'm so sorry"  
  
Padme watched him leave through the terrace. _'Fool'_ she thought unbidden. Quickly she downed her thoughts back under her feelings of grief, and she did grieve. She knew that the Jedi, as the were, needed to fall in order for true peace to reign, but they were her friends, even nearly family in some small way. Death was always a tragedy no matter how necessary a sacrifice it was to the greater good. The Order had to die, but it broke her heart to see it happen.  
  
_'Even the children though, Palpatine?'_ Padme wondered. That was a step too far in her mind. Children could be raised differently, taught the errors of their elders and make a change. It was the one hope this woe-begotten Galaxy had. Rubbing her swollen belly again she could feel her own child move slightly, responding to her feelings. She calmed herself and thought of her next move. Palpatine must be dealt with soon, that would be the next step. The senator had long planned for this day, had people in place to ensure a smooth transfer of power once the Chancellor had made his move. The revelation of his true nature however threw a spanner in her works. An old man made soft by decades of power and wealth would be easy to remove, but a Sith Lord? Only one man in the Galaxy could deal with such a monster. So she resolved to wait for her husband, as much as she hated to do so. The Galaxy was at a critical point, the longer Palpatine had to entrench himself the harder it would be for her to seize the apparatus of state after his death.  
  
Still, it might be an opportunity, Padme had wanted to be able to present her take over to Anakin as a fait accompli, not knowing where her husband might jump if asked to choose. She never worried that he'd turn on her, but Padme long learned the wisdom of leaving as little as possible up for chance. However, if Anakin really was the one responsible for the fall of the Jedi then she knew where his loyalty truly lay. Palpatine being a Sith only aided her, after all, she had studied much when dealing with Dooku, and Anakin had shared much more. If Anakin was now Palpatine's apprentice, and if betrayal was the nature of the Sith...  
  
She had time, she would wait.  
  
XxxXxxX  
  
It was many hours, bordering on a full day before she heard the whoosh of Anakin's speeder docking on her private pad. Padme rose quickly and straightened her dress, wrinkled from her nap on the couch. Meeting Anakin at the door she pulled her feelings up to the surface, trusting his Jedi senses to lead him to her waiting arms.  
  
As soon as he crossed the threshold his face shifted quickly through his every feeling as he saw her. Padme's love was brave, smart, powerful and more than a little sexy, but he was a terrible sabacc player. She saw his joy upon first sight, then worry when he felt her sadness, moving quickly to anticipation at her anger, finally anger when he senses his old master's lingering presence.  
  
"Where is he?" Anakin demanded and Padme struggled to hide her amusement as if he could ever hold such sway over her.  
  
"Gone, long ago. Not before he told me the truth."  
  
"What truth?" He ground out.  
  
"The truth about you," she summoned all her anger and rage toward the war and all it took from them. "The truth about what you did at the temple. The truth about what you are going to become. The truth about this new Empire Palpatine is building. Pick a truth"  
  
"I did all that to save you," Anakin was nearing mania now. Whatever had happened in the last few days it was clear her love was riding the bitter edge of madness. "I did what I did to bring peace to the Empire, to save lives, to end this war."  
  
"All at the word of this new Master of your's?"  
  
"The Emperor is a powerful Sith, he cares about us, he wants to make the Galaxy a better place." Only a man like Anakin could hold all those views as being the same, Padme admired his idealism if one could call it that.  
  
"This Empire is a monster that orders you to murder children." That time she needn't summon any feelings at all.  
  
Anakin at least still had the capacity to feel shame at her words. Breaking eye contact he muttered, "they were Jedi children. We couldn't risk them becoming a threat."  
  
Striding as quickly as she was able Padme crossed the room and grasped her husband's hands.  
  
"And what of our children?" She asked him quietly. "What will you do if Palpatine claims they're a threat as well."  
  
"That won't happen."  
  
"How can you be sure?" Padme went in for the final move.  
  
Gritting his teeth Anakin turned back to her. "Because he'd die first."  
  
Pulling him into an embrace Padme whispered, "why wait? After all he's a Sith, he can't be trusted to have anyone's interests in mind but his own. If we were to act quickly we could stop him before he can do any more harm. You and I don't need him, together we could take charge, make things the way they should be."  
  
Anakin shifted slightly in her grasp, looking down at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. Then a smile broke out on his face, and in his eyes, a look that said to her if she was in a different condition little could stop him from making love to her on the common room floor.  
  
Padme hid a smile ' _all too easy.'_  
  
XxxXxxX  
  
It amazed her how different the Councilor's office felt when she and Anakin entered it. She had always found the place unsettling under Palpatine's rule, the strange artwork and clear shows of wealth that Palpatine displayed, even in a time of war somehow felt even more odious than it ever had. The cold that seemed to fill the room did a great deal to add to the foreboding atmosphere. Behind it, all sat the Emperor himself, somehow shrouded in darkness despite the artificial light filling the room. The monster that Palpatine had become bore little resemblance to the man she knew, his face warped and twisted, and when he smiled at seeing them her stomach rolled. There was little doubt this thing was pure evil.  
  
"Ah, Lord Vader" Palpatine greeted when they stood before him, Anakin quickly kneeing. "And Senator Amidala how good of you to join him. I trust that he informed you the state of things."  
  
"He did," she stated blandly, shielding her mind with every trick she knew. "I'll admit some shock at hearing about your...training. The ambition was clear, any fool knew that this Empire of yours was the end game, but to have a Sith Lord ruling the Republic for so long. That was a shock."  
  
Palpatine hid his glee well but she could see that he was puffing up despite himself.  
  
"Not too much a shock I hope, I know your condition is quite delicate." putting sly emphasis on the end of his sentence he glanced down at her still kneeling husband.  
  
"I'm sturdier then I look, but men tend to overreact to the thought of pregnancy, it brings out the worst in them sometimes. Still, appearances of weakness is not weakness, am I correct, Sheeve?" At this, his eyes darted to her and hardened into ice. Everyone on Naboo knew how much he hated that name.  
  
"Watch yourself girl," he warned.  
  
"Why?" turning to Anakin she ran her hand through his thick hair. "Stand up love, it's time to finish this."  
  
Anakin rose and turned and cast a quick look at the red-robed guards. With a quick motion, they fell like puppets with their strings cut.  
  
"Lord Vader, stop this at once" Palpitine demanded.  
  
"You don't give orders here," Anakin coldly stated moving towards him.  
  
"So it's treason then," The Emperor snarled before suddenly seeming to freeze in place. Padme was not Force-sensitive, she actually was considered on the low end of the bell curve, but even she could feel the sheer weight of power pressing down on him, all due to her husband.  
  
"It is not treason," she told him watching Anakin move around to behind Palpatine's chair. "Treason would be letting a monster like you rule. The Galaxy needs order, stability, and most of all it needs peace. Peace only we can bring it."  
  
Palpatine was if nothing else a political genius, even while struggling against the invisible bonds holding him down. His eyes darted around as he thought back to every moment, every interaction that led up to this place in time. Finally, he focused on her, and in his eyes, behind the malice and anger, she could see enlightenment. Slowly he stopped his struggles as Anakin summoned the gold plated lightsaber from his side, Anakin wisely leaving his weapons behind. Slowly leaning back as much as he was able he looked up at Vader.  
  
"Now, you are a true Sith Lord," turning back to her he smiled. "I underestimated you, Senator, well played."  
  
"It's Empress," she said refusing to even humor his attempts at grandfatherly affection. With a quick hiss and a soft whoosh, the would-be Galactic conquer died at the hands of his apprentice, as befit a Sith Lord.  
  
XxxXxxX  
  
In the coming months, Padme had scarce a moment to herself. The grieving for the fallen Chancellor, slain by Jedi assassins in the dark of the night, lasted days. Only a few others in the Emperor's inner circle died at their hands before they fell themselves at the hands of the great Hero with No Fear, who refused to join his brothers in their treason. His wife, the beautiful and skilled Senator Amidala, herself a student of the late Palpatine took up the reins of state, declaring herself Empress, she ensured a peaceful transfer of power and promised to continue the reforms the Galaxy desperately needed.  
  
Grief soon turned to joy however as the couple announced the birth of their twin children. It took no time at all for the Holonet to move from the issues of shortages or continued Separatist hold outs and on to the new imperial babies, the beauty of the couple, and the achievements of their new regime.  
  
Since the birth, Padme wasted no time in rapidly advancing the new Imperial state. So many wrongs needed righting, and she had never been one to slack. Some of her old friends were able to be convinced at the necessity of her goals, and even a few stubborn hold outs were willing to at least fake some enthusiasm. The true believers would need to be watched, but Padme refused to be a tyrant, grasping at shadows. This Empire wasn't about power, it was about the people.  
  
Such distractions, she felt, could be why she suddenly managed to be surprised by the appearance of Obi-Wan Kenobi standing in her office. The man was clearly haggard, and oddly twitchy.  
  
"Padme we must hurry."  
  
"Hurry?" She felt like she had walked into a conversation mid-way.  
  
"Yes, if I'm to get you away from Anakin we have little time." He kept glancing at the door as if he expected to be jumped by a waiting Nexu.  
  
"Get me away from Anakin? Obi-Wan sit down, you're not making any sense."  
  
"Padme, there's no time for this."  
  
"Obi-Wan, I'm not sure what you think is going on, but I promise there is plenty of time. Anakin isn't going to attack you on sight. Jedi or no you're our friend, if you'd simply talk to us we could have all of this make sense."  
  
"Make sense..." Obi-Wan sputtered in confusion. "Padme I'm not sure what manipulation Anakin has used on you, but you must see that he's gone too far."  
  
"Manipulation? Anakin?" At that, she couldn't even restrain her laugh. For several seconds she sat clutching her sides as she giggled like she had as a child. "Oh, Obi-Wan I missed that dry wit of yours. Anakin manipulates _me_. Have you ever know my husband to employ any amount of subtly? I love him dearly but he's much more a blunt object. No, Anakin is hardly the man you seem to think he is."  
  
At that Obi-Wan's face grew pale, tears unshed filled his eyes. "I didn't want to believe it, _Empress,_ but I see now where this corruption has sprung from."  
  
"Corruption?" She growled. "I'm _ending_ corruption you fool. Corruption led to this moment. Corruption destroyed the Republic long long ago. Corruption led a planet to be nearly enslaved while the defenders were powerless to stand up to a handful of merchants. Corruption led to a government so riddled with sycophants and dissenters that entire systems were defecting. Corruption is letting an entire sector suffer under the rule of gangsters and slavers because of a handful of treaties and excuses about the rule of law. I've brought peace, unity, and justice to the Empire."  
  
"By leaving it in chains? Padme be reasonable, what you offer isn't justice, it's violence and oppression. What of freedom? Democracy?"  
  
"Freedom? Democracy?" She practically spat the words. "What have either brought this Galaxy? Death, decay, and stagnation. I offer a better way. Peace reigns and with it people will know true happiness. What does it matter if they have a say in who rules them? They'd hardly know what to do with such a choice. Maybe in the future, the people can be trusted with such choices but for that day to come I must do what I can to burn away the weeds strangling the life out of the Galaxy."  
  
"I will stop this," Obi-Wan threatened.  
  
"How, by striking down an unarmed woman? Have you grown so cold that you could truly kill me? What then, does that say about the teaching you claim to hold above all others?" At this Obi-Wan looked away from her, his face wreathed in sorrow. "You are a peaceful man Obi-Wan, I understand where this resistance comes from, but peace won't save anyone. I saw that first hand on Naboo. My people's freedom was only won through violence and power. Diplomacy failed us. I will not give it the chance to fail others."  
  
"I won't kill you, I won't need to. The people will see you for what you are someday, and then there will be nowhere for you to hide. But even so, as a Jedi, I have a duty to the Force. You'll live, but this so-called Darth Vader will not be by your side, so I ask you again, where is Anakin?"  
  
His threat only steeled her resolve. Sacrifice was never easy, but she wouldn't deprive her children of their father. "Behind you."  
  
Obi-Wan spun around his lightsaber flaring to life in a hiss. In that second pain erupted from his back as the Empress drew her hidden blaster and killed one of her oldest friends. He sank down to his knees, his saber rolling away from him. He could feel the life flowing from him and into the Force.  
  
"I'm sorry Obi-Wan," Padme whispered. Even she couldn't say what for.  
  
Obi-Wan for his part could only mutter a name as he closed his eyes and became one with the Force.


End file.
